First, the glazed goodies, then the guilt, then I get going again

I gave up.

I bought a snack box of 12 little chocolate cake rolls. I have loved them ever since my granddad served them to us grandkids when we were at their house every Tuesday afternoon. The chocolate rolls are filled with a sweet, creamy scrumptiousness and covered with a mirror glaze. Every bite brings back memories of that sweet, gentle man.

There is a right way to eat these snacks. First, bite just the glaze off the ends and proceed to enjoy the glaze around the cake roll. Then, unroll the cake and scoop the filling out, going slowly to enjoy all the creamy goodness. This is the heart of the snack.

Last, eat the sponge and move on to the next cake roll. Over the years, the technique has been perfected. I take my time with this, enjoying the process as well as the guilty pleasure of my indulgence. I didn’t want to eat all 12 rolls right away, but the snacks didn’t survive 24 hours after I began. Funnily, the snack cakes do not have a long shelf life at my house.

Recommended Reading

Aug. 21, 2026 News by Margarida Maia, PhD

Precautions support safe stem cell transplant in man with CAD

Stress reliever

I don’t normally do this, but the stress of dealing with my cold agglutinin disease (CAD) has been building. I had just begun a new medication that attacks CAD by dealing with the cancer that is suspected of causing it. It was very costly, and while it was completely covered by a grant, I still worried about it.

Last weekend, I was feeling much of the stress of dealing with it. It has been beastly hot outside, so I remained in my room, too fatigued to accomplish any projects anyway. I had a headache almost every day of the week leading up to my indulgence. Plus, I had mild outbreaks of poison ivy on my legs and arms.

All of this to say, I wanted a stress and depression reliever, and I chose comfort food. CAD’s symptoms can be quantified by checking hemoglobin, immunoglobulin, lactate dehydrogenase, and bilirubin levels. Other symptoms are not so obvious, however.

People with CAD are 60% more likely than healthy people to have medically attended depression or anxiety. Patients can fill out questionnaires at medical appointments, but their accuracy depends on the respondent’s truthfulness. Someone recently told me that they lie on these because they don’t want to deal with the response the questionnaires trigger. I’ve done that, too.

Fatigue is another difficult symptom. I struggle with the balance between being actually fatigued and using it as an excuse to avoid an unpleasant situation. CADdies, as we with CAD sometimes call ourselves, are often fatigued.

Additionally, CADdies live with chronic inflammation. This activates the complement system and starts, or worsens, low-grade hemolysis, the destruction of red blood cells. This process keeps inflammation simmering. That’s why I hesitate when my sweet tooth wins and the snacks come out.

Yesterday’s mistake

Sadly for me, my comfort foods are highly processed, which is linked to an inflammatory state. Ugh! With this in mind, I didn’t follow up my snacking with another of my favorites: a brown sugar cinnamon pastry.

The very next day after I fell off my diet wagon, I climbed back on again. My wrists, fingers, and ankles seemed puffier than usual. I’m ordinarily very strict with my diet, eating primarily meats and vegetables. Anti-inflammatory foods include tomatoes, olive oil, green leafy vegetables, almonds and walnuts, and fruits like strawberries and oranges. Sticking to this diet helps me cope with my fatigue-induced inactivity.

In L.M. Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables,” Anne says, “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

Enjoying those chocolaty snacks isn’t the worst thing I have done in my life, but they’re not good for me. I have gone back on my diet, but an indulgence every now and again is helpful, too. Like Anne did after making her mistake, I started over on a new day.

Note: Cold Agglutinin Disease News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Cold Agglutinin Disease News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to cold agglutinin disease.